


Their happy ending (Our love will have no bounds)

by orphan_account



Category: Altered Carbon (TV)
Genre: Childhood Memories, F/M, Incest, Love, Obsessive Behavior, Post-Canon, Seduction, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:41:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23160406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Takeshi Kovacs is having one weird awakening.Spoilers for seasons 1 & 2.Incest warning.
Relationships: Reileen Kawahara/Takeshi Kovacs
Comments: 1
Kudos: 21





	Their happy ending (Our love will have no bounds)

Resleeving was sometimes hard.

Yet this one was something else completely.

Waking up in a new body, after losing his previous one in most violent way, was a very specific feeling. His mind was still in the midst of battle, heart beating like crazy, adrenaline rushing through his veins, fists vainly striking phantom targets: things that were long gone, sometimes centuries in the past, and yet to his confused mind they have been "just there".

But the absolute worst was looking into a mirror, and seeing a stranger's face look back at him, pupils widening in horror.

Except this time the man in the mirror was quite familiar. Takeshi Kovacs, his very own face. He had no idea when was the last time he wore it.

Trying to calm down his rapid breathing, he checked his surroundings. He was in the apartment suite at the Nevermore Hotel. It looked exactly as when he left it, except for the bulky resleeving unit that someone placed right in the middle of the room. A construct? Probably not, he decided. He dressed up and summoned the elevator.

As he walked out to the lobby, he found it darker and emptier than usual, absence of Poe raised his suspicions. Then he noticed the woman sitting at the bar, and as she was raising her eyes to meet him, his heart skipped.

"What's the matter, Tak?", she smiled gently. "Mistook me for the Patchwork Man?"

He was already by her before she even finished her question, his hand reaching out to grasp her cheek

"Rei...", he whispered, "You were dead. I saw you die. How..."

She covered his hand with her own, "A very old offline backup that I forgot about."

"How old?"

"I made it shortly after I got rich enough to afford backups. I lost more than one hundred years."

He stared at her for a moment.

"Where is Poe?", he asked.

"He's recovering from having your DHF extracted from his internals."

"He'll live", she added, seeing concern on his face. She then tapped her fingers on a colorful book that was lying on the counter just in front of her. "Can I tell you a story?"

He stared at her as she turned the hardcover to the first page. It seemed like a book for children, with hand-drawn pictures and large text. The first page had a an illustration of a pair of children, a boy and a girl. Reileen took a deep breath and started reading.

There was once a brother and a sister  
who loved each other very much.

Their world was filled with monsters,  
so they swore to always fight them together.

After slaying their first monster they found  
that there were too many of them to count.

The monsters were angry so they separated the siblings  
because alone they could not fight anymore.

The sister spent many long years missing her brother  
and the monsters grew certain of their success.

One day they allowed the siblings to meet by mistake  
and the brother and the sister did what they once swore

They have slain all the monsters they could  
and then ran to take shelter in the woods.

There they found a hidden kingdom ruled by a mighty princess.  
She invited them to join her cause.

The brother soon fell in love with the princess,  
and his sister became mad with jealousy

In a blind rage she razed the kingdom and made  
the princess fall asleep for a very long time.

However, she lost sight of her beloved brother  
and could not find him again until many ages later

When that time did come, she found him among friends  
so she brought pain and suffering unto them.

For her madness was not done, and the brother soon saw  
that the sister herself had become a monster.

So he slayed her even though it caused him great pain.  
He then set out on a journey to find his princess.

Ages passed, and the sister woke up again, free from madness,  
but she despaired: how could she _ever_ be forgiven?

She found him on his adventure, but didn't trust herself to greet him.  
Soon, he found the princess, but she rejected his love.

Still, he sacrificed his own life, so that her dream could live on.  
Witness to this, the sister jumped and snatched his soul as he was dying.

She then gave it to his most trusted companion for safekeeping.  
He guarded it, so that the siblings could one day... meet... again.

She flipped the page, revealing that the remaining ones were blank.

"What do you think?", she asked.

"I think 'The Patchwork Man' has lesser body count."

She smiled sadly. "It doesn't say good things about our lives."

"No, it doesn't", he agreed, then looked in her eyes and asked "Do you know what happened at _Head in the Clouds_?"

Her smile vanished. "I managed to recover the security recording. I watched it over and over again, and...", she turned her head, "I just couldn't understand it, Tak. I threatened you, I got jealous over that Ortega woman, I caused nothing but pain and death."

She grasped her necklace. "I even disrespected our mother. If she was weak, she would've just ran away, found a better man, left us with the monster. But she stayed, she cared for us, did her best to raise us despite the..."

Tears were now welling in her eyes. "She was not weak, she was the strongest! I just... can't even imagine... how could I..."

She felt familiar arms closing around her back. Her body reacted and she was now resting her head on her brother's chest. She heard him whisper.

"It's okay Rei, it wasn't you anymore. You were... she was p-fragged into insanity."

She frowned, even though he couldn't see it. "Was I?"

"I think she understood it at the very end. She said she'd never stop..." His voice was now unsteady. "She asked me to pull the trigger."

They stayed like this for a while.

***

They were now sitting next to each other on the couch in the hotel lobby. Reileen was resting her head on Takeshi's arm.

"What was that part about you snatching my soul?", he asked her. "Something to do with Poe?"

"I reprogrammed him so that he'd back you up every now and then."

"How is this impossible?", he frowned. "An AI cannot possibly hold that much data."

"Yours can. Somehow. It wasn't perfect though. He glitched horribly each time he backed you up."

"Oh. So that's what was causing it. Why did you do it?"

"Because you have a habit for getting yourself killed!"

He shifted uncomfortably. "And what were _you_ doing since you woke up?"

"Well... First I figured out why I woke up, then I found out what happened, cried a for a bit, and then decided what to do next. I had some money saved in an anonymous investment account and it turned quite a profit over the centuries. In fact, I had to fight the bank over it. I used it to start my own backup company."

"Your own backup company?" He frowned. "So now you're helping Meths get their eternal lives?"

"I'm helping anyone who can afford it, not just Meths. I have some very smart people working for me, pushing the envelope of what's possible."

"Those who can afford backups are Meth by definition. Why are you doing this?"

"Because it's needed." She sighed. "You know, my love, this is how the two of us are different. I would be content just waking up next to you for the rest of my life. But you need to have a mission. To make a difference, to change the world for better. How can I ever compete with that Falconer woman if I can't give you a mission?"

"She is wrong, you know?", Reileen continued, taking advantage of his surprise. "She identified the problem all-right - that with immortality Meths would become like gods - but her solution will not work no matter how many Envoy lives she throws at it!"

He was now frowning, but she didn't stop. "If you can limit everyone's life span to 100 years, then Meths will just find a way around it. You can kill all Meths, but this broken universe will just produce some new ones. But it doesn't have to!"

"Rei, calm down. What are you talking about?"

She was suddenly sitting in his lap with her arms on top of his shoulders.

"What if we push from the other direction? You see, backups and clones have been around for ages, and yet the prices haven't come down at all. There's been no innovation because Meths like being the only ones with access to this technology. This we can change. Imagine there's five different backup and cloning companies, seemingly independent, but secretly controlled by us. They keep innovating rapidly and undercutting each other on price. And they won't stop until one can easily afford a dozen clones and a thousand year backup plan on a salaryman's pay. Can you imagine what that would entail?"

Her forehead was now touching his, her loose hair falling down to brush against his neck.

"Imagine vast factories churning out clones with brutal efficiency of mass production. Imagine moon-sized data centers backing up everyone, everywhere, several times a day."

She was now whispering.

"Meths will certainly hate us once they realize that we're taking their most special thing, their godhood, and making it as commons as a cold. They will try to fight us, but with two of us here, I'm sure we can take them! Let your princess distract them with her rebellions, while we do the actual work here!"

She was then pushed away, gently.

"This is all very well thought out, but why do you think you have to compete with Quell?"

"Because I love you! Do I really have to spell it out for you? I saw her take you away from me, piece by piece. Soon you wouldn't think of anything _but_ her! And so soon after we finally found each other too! Do you have any idea how it made me feel?! When I saw what she was doing to you near that lake..."

"You've seen us?!"

"I saw everything and then I felt something break inside me. I will never forgive her this, not in a thousand years!"

She took a shaky breath, and spoke more quietly. "I will not lose you again. Not to her, not to Ortega, not to anyone else. Not for as long as I breathe..."

"Rei, no!"

She suddenly pressed her lips to his own and clung to him with her body. For a moment she felt his lips respond to her, but then she was pushed away again.

"Why didn't you tell me back then?!", he demanded.

"I did. Several times. You just... wouldn't listen", she cried. Tears flowed down her cheeks.

He was now ready to push her off his lap. To shout at her, to throw her out of the hotel, and out of his life. To tell her to never come back again.

Did she really tell him? He had no recollection of anything like that. In fact, he didn't remember much of his sister from their days at the Citadel. Back then he was very focused on... uh.... wait...

He found himself kissing Reileen again, deeper than before. Her hands were running wild, and his body was responding to her touch as if it had a mind of its own. Kisses became more urgent, clothes were flying off. How was this even happening?

Reileen was looking up to him from beneath her eyelids, enticing him with her gaze. She looked so amazingly beautiful.

The Revolution had failed and the Envoys died simply because his little sister had a crush on him, and he failed to notice.

It would've been funny if it wasn't so tragic.

She was still his sister, which meant what they were doing was wrong, very wrong.

He tried to stop, but instead found himself hypnotised by Rei's necklace jumping up and down between her naked breasts as she moved under him.

Up and down.

Up and down.

This was so much different than with Quell. She made love to him, but Rei was actually in love with him. Madly, and desperately.

That look of utter devotion on her face, the way her lips so readily parted for him, it was all so... vulgar. He hated himself for getting turned on by this, he really did.

Up and down.

Up and down.

A steady rhythm.

Breasts so soft.

Lips so moist.

A small voice in the back of his head was begging him to stop, to end this madness here and now. He just... couldn't.

***

It was not until almost noon the following day when Reileen woke up. The first thing she felt was the delightful soreness of her body, followed by warm embrace of her brother. She was ecstatic. For once things went right in her life, and she was right where she belonged.

She was very tempted to bask in this warmth for a while longer, but she had work to do. She gently untangled herself, taking care not to wake Takeshi up, and then silently headed to the elevator. Only in the last moment she remembered to put on a bath robe.

When she was walking through the lobby towards a door labeled "Personnel only", Poe materialized in her way.

"I'm sorry madame, guests are not allowed in the kitchen."

This annoyed her, but she remembered to be patient.

"Can you make an exception? I'd like to make something special to celebrate my reunion with Tak, and I need to do it with my own hands."

He stared at her. "Is that so?"

She smiled. "Tradition demands it."

"I suppose there would be no harm in that", he answered after a moment.

He looked like he wanted to say something more, but chose to dematerialize instead.

Good, Reileen thought as she made her way towards the kitchen. If he had any remarks on the... peculiarity of their reunion, he'd better keep them to himself.

She hummed to herself while mixing egg yolks and whites. Last night didn't go exactly the way she planned, but the result was still much better than anything she could've reasonably expected. Of course, it could have had something to do with the slow-acting aphrodisiac that she had stuffed in Takeshi's stomach just before letting him wake up.

It was nothing as pronounced as Empathin, just a simple something to heighten his libido. It may have helped to push him over the edge, but the decision to take her was still his, which meant that he really wanted her on some level at least, conscious or not. This was good.

Yet, the real battle was still to be fought. It was morning now, and morning is when regrets usually appear. She couldn't let him have any doubts.

***

When she returned upstairs with their breakfast, Takeshi was already up and sitting on the edge of the bed. He was holing his head in his hands - not a good sign. He straightened up to greet her when she entered the room.

"Hi", he said weakly.

"Good morning!", she smiled widely. "I brought us something nice to start the day with", she said, putting the plates down on a small table beside the bed.

"Listen... about last night...", he started.

She froze. "Yes?"

"I apologize... It was wrong for me to..."

"It was quite all-right." She sat down on the bed next to him, and gave him a warm smile. "After all, we were being kept apart for centuries, and now the universe has finally spared us this moment. Why not make the most of it?"

"Rei, you are my sister."

"We are way past being siblings, Tak!" She reached out to take his hand, but he shied away from her. "Do you recall the day when we found each other at the Yakuza place?", she asked.

He nodded. "We cleaned the place up."

"It was our choice, Tak. A decision we both made, without saying a single word! In that very moment I realized that our love would have no bounds." She reached for his hand again and this time caught it. "What we have is something special, something far deeper than can be described with such a down-to-earth word as 'siblings'." She began caressing his palm with her other hand. "So, if we feel this way about each other, then that's how we are going to be like. There's really nothing to be ashamed of."

Takeshi remained silent.

Reileen raised her head to look him in the eyes and saw that he wasn't convinced. "Anyway", she started, "we probably shouldn't have this discussion on an empty stomach". She gestured towards the small table. "Would you like to try what I made?"

She led him to the table and he sat down, but hesitated.

"Is there something wrong?"

"I... Just what is your game here? Why do you want... us to happen so much?"

She frowned. "My game?" She took a deep breath to calm down. "Do you remember that book I showed you yesterday?"

"Yes. Did you illustrate it yourself?"

"Did you see the blank pages at the end? What I want... _all_ I want is to fill them with stories of us. No matter what stories, for as long as we stay together", she gave him a sad look, "...and you don't run off with some princess."

"This is a lot to take in."

"Start with the food." She pushed the plate toward him.

"Is that... _omurisu_?"

"Yes. Brings back memories, doesn't it?"

"It... it tastes just like mom's. How did you do it?"

"I asked her to teach me. Some time before she... It used to be your favorite, right?"

"Right".

"She taught me how to make a couple of other things too. I can show you later."

After eating breakfast, they spent some time catching up and chatting idly. The topic of their relationship didn't come up again, but Reileen felt that her brother was still tense about it.

In the end, he decided he wanted to go catch some fresh air.

"Wear this bracelet", she closed the device around his wrist. "It's a camouflage emitter. It will project directly on your face to make you appear as someone else. We can't let anyone see you in your birth sleeve, can we?"

"Is it also a tracking device?"

"No, and it was also quite expensive, so don't lose it."

She walked with him through the hotel lobby

"If you need to pay for anything, use your right index finger. It has a patch of skin with matching DNA trace."

"Got it. Rei?"

"Yes?"

"Promise that you won't follow me."

She sighed. "I promise. I'll wait for you here. Catch me on my ONI if you need anything."

They both knew that he wouldn't.

"Thanks." He smiled and left through the door.

Which left Reileen almost all alone. Almost.

She walked up to the counter, where Poe was busy cleaning a glass.

"Care to join me for a drink?"

"I don't drink on duty, madame. However, I can treat you to a wide selection of fine..."

"I'll have Tak's usual."

"The usual, coming right up."

A glass appeared in front of her. She examined it curiously.

"Are you all-right?", she asked while turning the glass in her fingers.

"It turns out that functioning is much easier when one doesn't have an entire DHF stuck in his database."

"You saved his life."

"It was a long shot. If it wasn't for Annabel's efforts..."

The former archaeologist AI suddenly appeared next to him.

"Did you call for me?"

"I was just... making a point of how instrumental you were in my timely recovery."

Reileen chuckled and the female AI's attention turned to her.

"Your backup program was very poorly written. It had long loops without any safe points, it didn't restore the main context after finishing, it dumped data wherever... It could've killed them both."

"Then we are lucky we had you to sort it out."

Annabel was now eyeing the glass that Reileen was holding in her hand.

"Why do humans drink alcohol? All it ever does is harm you."

Reileen smiled. "It's a very good question. People have been drinking for far longer than we remember. It has many functions, among others, it can facilitate trust between those who otherwise have no reason to trust each other."

"You can create trust by making parts of your brain malfunction?"

"By doing it together with someone you are sort of placing yourselves in each other's care. Friendships are easier to make, secrets are more difficult to keep. Who knows, maybe this is how the first civilization was created. Speaking of trust", she smiled at Poe, "my brother has your mobile emitter with him. This means that you know where he is and what state he's in."

"I witnessed you making a promise not to follow him."

"But you didn't make such a promise yourself. I'd like you to let me know the moment he gets into trouble and needs my help. I'll trust your judgement in what counts as trouble."

"This seems... unexpectedly fair?"

Annabel laughed.

***

It was now long past sunset, and Reileen was still waiting for the return of her brother. She was lying on the sofa in the hotel lobby, listening to the rain falling outside, sometimes dozing off for a moment. It was getting very late.

He could've very well been off the planet by now, she thought. Of course, she had means to check, but she refrained from using them. What would be the point of bringing him back if she couldn't bring herself to trust him?

Suddenly, she heard Poe's voice: "Madame, I believe that your brother may require your assistance right now."

She woke up immediately. "Where?"

There was some noise by the entrance, and then Takeshi half walked, half fell through the revolving door.

"Sis!", he beamed.

"Tak. You're completely drunk!"

"Yes!... I love you, Rei!"

"No, don't hug me! You're soaked to the bone! Come, let's get you to the shower"

She helped him towards the elevator. He was rambling along the way.

"I want to do the mass cloning thing with you, sis... Those fucking Meths... Let's screw them over really good... pull that godhood rug right from under their fat asses..."

"I'm very happy Tak, but right now you really need to get cleaned up and go to bed."

They reached the bathroom, and she was now helping him out of his clothes. He was really flushed, probably because of the booze. He kept going on.

"It feels so weird with you... I never looked at you this way before... not until... it felt so good... I really hate myself for liking it..."

Reileen helped him inside the shower cabin.

"Just like I said..." She turned the cold water.

"No! It's cold! Stop it! It's so cold!"

"...our love will have no bounds."

***

"That was very mean of you, in the shower", Takeshi said.

They were now lying in bed, him on his back, her on the side and facing him. She held his hand, but was otherwise keeping to herself.

"I had to sober you up somehow. Also, you left me here wondering if you'd ever come back. I figured it was only fair."

"I wouldn't leave you Rei, not like this."

"There's no one in the world who loves you more than I do."

"I know."

It wasn't the best answer Reileen could hope for, but she chose to be content with it for the time being. In the end, her brother required two things: romantic love and a mission. If she doesn't provide him with both, then he'll be forced to look for them somewhere else, and that could again take him someplace she couldn't follow. The thought alone frightened her very much. And so she would be his lover, even if it really did feel a bit weird. For as long as she held on to his heart, she reasoned, no one else would steal it from her.

"Rei? You're not secretly doing evil things, like the last time, are you?"

"I don't. None of my businesses profit directly from harming people, if that's what you ask..."

He nodded.

"...but you don't have to believe me on this. I'll be introducing you to my corporate structure soon enough. You're welcome to ask questions and find out how things are by yourself. I don't want to have secrets from you anymore."

Takeshi considered her answer. He was of course not nearly as drunk as he pretended to be. It was in fact just a convenient excuse for coming back so late. Reileen seemed to care very much about being accepted by him, something that hasn't even crossed her mind before. She really surprised him with this, and also with that not having secrets thing. He was also rather glad that she chose not to spy on him during his excursion earlier that day. Gathering information took him much longer then he anticipated, but he did manage to catch up to what was happening in the world. Quell was alive and on the run, training new Envoys to restart the revolution. His _younger self_ was with her, trying to help. He was very tempted to join up with them, but he couldn't do it without first figuring out what his sister was up to.

Her plan to bring cloning and backups to the masses was very enticing. It really would've solved the problem that Envoys were fighting, just in a entirely different way from what Quell had envisioned. That is, if Reileen was really honest about it. It was something that he should be doubting, so far at least. Yes, she was family, and yes, he loved her. Perhaps even more than he should, not that she complained. Still, he had to remember that she was extremely dangerous. He had to stop her from coming after Quell and the Envoys, and he would stay here with her building clone factories if that's what it took to keep his close ones safe.

He didn't confront her about that strange pill that he had pulled out with his umbilical when he first woke up. He had to have Poe analyze it for him, that is if he could catch a moment without Rei being present. He could only hope that his AI companion would understand the peculiarity of his situation and be discreet.

He felt Rei's arm creeping around his chest, and her cheek resting on his arm. Maybe this wasn't so bad, he thought, as he drifted to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> So, after binging both seasons I had the impression that Rei/Tak story in season 1 was much stronger emotionally than Tak/Quell story in season 2. As such, I was compelled to give the siblings the happy ending they deserved. But, of course it couldn't have been so simple, considering their history. I hope that you enjoyed reading this fic as much as I enjoyed writing it. And if I may: Ta(c)k så mycket!


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